Apparatus for preventing static charges from collecting on articles in a dispensing hopper



2 Sheets-Sheet l w 7\/|||J L 3 L N6 5 5 T2 \W I L o m y y a a m u m 4 A A T TORNE V H. R. LONGFELLOW EVENTING STATIC CHARGES FROM COLLECTING IN A DISPENSING HOPPER ON ARTICLES April 3, 1951 APPARATUS FOR PR Filed June 6, 1947 Aprll 1951 H. R. LONGFELLOW 2,547,132

APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING STATIC CHARGES FROM COLLECTING 0N ARTICLES IN A DISPENSING HOPPER Filed June 6, 194'! 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //VVEN TOR H. R LONGFELLOW Hy Wm,

Patented Apr. 3, 1951 UNITED ES- orrlcs APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING STATIC CHARGES FROM, COLLECTING N ARTICLES, ,IN A DISPENSING, HOPPER Harold' 'R. Longfellow, Baltimore, Md., a'ssig nor to Western Electric ICOmpany; Incorporated,

New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application .iuiie (Lien, seam. 752,892

2 Claims.

This inventionrelates to apparatus for'preventing static charges from collectingon articles capable of generatinga static charge upon frictional movement therebetween, and more particularlyto apparatus for preventing static charges from collecting on insulated discs in the manufacture of coaxial cables.

used j Insulating discs used in-the'nianufacture of V coaxial cables are made from suitable insulating material, one oi the more preferable material's The-discs are placed in a being polyethylene. supply hopper having feed chutes connected thereto'for co'riv'eying'the discs "from the hopper in a single-file mariner; If an agitator is posi tioned in the hopper for u-rging'the discs into the feed chutes, the frictional movement between the discs due to the agitation'thereof causes static charges to be generated on the discs."

Under certain atmospheric conditions, particu' larly when the surrounding air is dry, these static charges will accumulate on the discs. Such static charges cause the discs'to cling to the sides of the hopper and the feed' chutes, and prevent free movement of the discs in the feed chutes] An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus for preventingstatic charges from collecting on articles";

An apparatus embodying certain-features of T the invention comprises the combination of a hopper for receiving a supply of insulating discs, a pair of feed chutes for conveying the discs from the hopper, a rotatable'agitator mounted in the hopper for urging the discs into the feed chutes,

and an ozone generator. The ozone gas made in the ozone generator is caused to circulate around the mass of discs in the hopper, whereby any static charges generated on the discs as a result of their being rubbed together by' the agitatorare conductedtherefrom by the ozone gas, and said static charges are thereby prevented from collecting on the discs.

Other objects and advantages of the invention Will be apparent from the following detailed description and from the appended drawings, in-

which:

Fig; l is afront elevational view of the disc applying apparatus of a coaxial cable unit forming machine showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, horizontal sectional view taken along 1ine*2'-2 of Fig: '1, and" Fig. 3 is an enlarged"fragmentary; View taken-along line 3-3of Fig. '2.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1, the reference numeral 10 inectional sued'July 30, 1946.'

dicates' generally the disc applying mechanism of a conventional coaxial cable unit forming ma (Shine; The disc applying mechanism l0 comprises a pairof discapplicatorsl I -l I whose pe- I, ripheries are alternately provided with disc car ryiri'g'slots 1 2 1211111 disc receiving slo'tsl3l3. '1

A sum-jar centrally perforated. insulating discs "l d-44 "(Fig 1): arefplacedina suitable funnel shaped hopper 15' having aconical-shaped' agi-" tator 6 for urging the disc'sfi'om the hopper into L-shaped slots Ii -ell provided in feed chutes 45-18, The L-shaped'slots offeedchhtkas are designed to convey thedistis" I |l4ffroin the hopper'IS in asingle fil ,'d e-to edge manner to I: their respective disc inserting mechanisms 2 il2il, by means of which the discs H ll "are inserted T of thedisc ap Each 'disdapplicator' carries the into the disc carrying slots izlz plica'tors' I I-I i. discsinserted thereinpast'ja knife 2| positioned adjacent to the periphery thereoLwhich cuts a: radial slit in the discs so that the'y'may be ultimat'ely applied on a conductor 22 in the manner described in Berggren ett iieatent aio flszji -f" Thefeed chutes I8- -l8 must be continuously supplied with'insulatiiigdiscsso'thatwhen the disc applicatorsl l ll" are rotated in the direc tion' indicated, each time a disc carrying slot [2 is adjacent to its respective 'dis'c'inserting mechanisni 2e, a disc willbe available-indie associated feed chutefor in'sertionin the slot by the in- H serting mechanism. "J'Io" maintainan"adequat supply of discsin'the feed chutes the agitator lli' 3 is providedwith'a pair'of angle-shaped resilienfi fingers 2828,'which' are secured thereon so that the vertical legs thereof extend intoan' annular groove 33 formed'betw'e'en the It is'undercut to;for'm "a f rusto conical opening 33 therein, and an 'annular'gasket 34 is "positioned between the support 3| and the gear motor housing 27 to make theopening33" substantially air "The opening intli'ehdppr frniedby the "p' riphery of the agitator l6 and the funnel-shaped hopper I5 is substantially V-shaped which causes periphery of the] base of the agitator t6 andthe annular base of the hopper l5. The" agitator I6 is secured'on' a shaft 23 which iS dri i lelfjby 'a S'uitabl driving means, such as a gear motorindi'c'at'ed generally at 2?, which serves to frota'te the agitator'in a'ff' counterclockwise dirctionfFig'i 2);" The base of the hopper I5 is secured to anannular cup shaped support 3!,"Which is securedtothe nous;

' ing of the gear motor "21 by apluralityofbolts; such as the bolt32jThebottoin-ofthe agitator" the discs positioned in the hopper to fall downwardly into the annular groove 30. As the agitator I6 is rotated by the gear motor 21, the vertical legs of the resilient fingers 2828 riding in the groove 30 urge all the discs that have fallen into the groove into one of the feed chutes I8-I 8 depending on the particular portion of the groove 30 in which the discs originally rested. In this manner, the resilient fingers 28-28 of the agitator I6 are continuously collecting discs which fall into the annular groove 39 and urging them into the L-slots Il-I1 of the feed chutes I8l8, thereby keeping a suflicient supply of discs in the feed chutes.

The discs I4I4 stored in the hopper preparatory to being applied to the conductor 2| are made from polyethylene, a material capable of generating a static charge on itself upon frictional engagement with a dissimilar material. The rotary movement of the agitator I6 and the fingers i8-l8 within the hopper I containing a supply of polyethyene discs causes a continuous frictional movement between the discs themselves, between the discs and the agitator and between the discs and the hopper. This rubbing action tends to generate a static charge on the discs I4-I4 and an opposite charge on the hopper I5 and agitator l6. Since the hopper and agitator are grounded, their charge will be discharged, but under certain atmospheric conditions, particularly when the surrounding air is dry and substantially non-conductive, the static charges on the discs will not be discharged to ground through the hopper I5. As a result, a substantial static charge accumulates on the discs causing them to cling to the sides of the hopper I5 and to the sides of L-shaped slots of the reed chutes l8l8, thereby causing the discs to jam up in the feed chutes. This jamming up of the discs in the feed chutes causes an erratic supply of discs to the inserting mechanisms 2020, which results in a non-uniform application of the discs on th conductor 22.

To provide free movement of the discs down the sides of the hopper I5, over the agitator I6 and through the L-slots 11-11 of the feed chutes I8-I8, it is necessary to continuously discharge the static charges and prevent a substantial charge from collecting on the discs while they are in the hopper. To prevent a high static charge from collecting on the discs and thereby obtain free movement of the discs through the feed chutes I8l8 there is provided a conventional ozone generator, indicated generally at 35, through which air under moderate pressure is directed from a suitable supply (not shown) by means of a pipe 36. The air, in passing through the ozone generator, is ionized to form ozone gas, which is well known as a good conductor of electricity. The ozone is directed from the ozone generator 35 to the opening 33 by means of a pipe 40 fitted into a tapped bore provided in the support 3| of the hopper I5. In this manner the opening 33 at the base of the agitator I6 is filled with the ozone gas produced by the ozone generator 35.

A plurality of holes 4I-4I are provided around the base of the agitator I6 (Fig. 2) between the opening 33 and the tapered periphery thereof to allow the ozone gas supplied to the opening 33 to pass therefrom into the annular, V-shaped opening in the hopper I5. When the agitator is rotated the holes provided around the base project a pair of annular rotating sprays of ozone gas into the base of the hopper, thereby assuring that all portions of the hopper are supplied with the ozon gas. After being sprayed into the hopper in this manner, the ozone gas fiows up through the mass of discs [4-44 positioned in the hopper and completely fills the hopper, thereby completely surrounding each individual disc therein.

When the discs are agitated in this atmosphere of ozone gas the static charges which tend to collect on the discs due to the frictional movement thereof are continuously conducted from the discs by the ozone gas, whereby the static charges are prevented from building up on the discs. Thus, the ozone gas maintains the discs at substantially ground potential, in which case the discs have no tendency to be attracted to, or attach themselves to the sides of the L-slots of the feed chutes. By so preventing the discs from becoming charged with static electricity, they will slide freely in the L-slots of the feed chutes to the inserting mechanisms 2020.

The ozone gas was selected as a medium by means of which the static charge on the discs could be discharged because of its availability and ease of manufacture. However, it is to be understood that any of the chemically inert, conductive gases, such as helium, argon, krypton and zenon, may be used with equally satisfactory results.

It is to be understood that the above description, although directed to a method of and apparatus for preventing static charges from accumulating on polyethylene insulating discs, is purely illustrative. The invention may be employed to prevent static charges from collecting on various sizes and shapes of articles made from materials which are capable of generating a static charge upon frictional engagement with a dissimilar material.

While the above-described apparatus is particularly well adapted for use with a hopper employed for feeding polyethylene insulating discs to the applicators of a coaxial cable unit forming machine, it may be modified to suit various types of applications where it is required to prevent static'charges from accumulating on a plurality of individual parts, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a disc applying mechanism of a coaxial unit forming machine, a funnel-shaped hopper in which a plurality of plastic insulating discs may be placed, feed chutes for conveying the discs from the hopper, a rotating agitator operating within the hopper to urge the discs from the hopper into the feed chutes, the resulting agitation of the discs causin at least some of them to acquire static charges, an annular support secured to the base of the hopper, said agitator having a frusto-conical counterbore in the base thereof and a plurality of holes provided in an annular path around the base of the agitator for connecting the counterbore with the hopper opening containing the discs, and an ozone generator for continuously supplying ozone gas under pressure to the annular opening and through the holes in the agitator into contact with the discs positioned in the hopper, whereby the rotating agitator projects the ozone gas in rotating annular sprays against the discs so that any static charges accumulated on the discs are conducted from the discs by the ozone gas.

2. Apparatus for preventing static charges from collecting on a plurality of non-metallic articles, which comprises a funnel-shaped hopper in 5 which a plurality of non-metallic articles may be haphazardly positioned, feed chutes for conducting the articles from the hopper in a single-file manner, a conical agitator rotatable within the hopper for urging the articles into the feed chutes, said agitator being so positioned as to form an annular opening between itself and the hopper and having a counterbore in the base thereof and a plurality of holes provided around said base and communicating with the counterbore and the annular opening, and means for continuously supplying an electrically conductive gas to the counterbore whereby the rotating agitator in the hopper projects a rotating spray of the conductive gas into the mass of articles in the hopper, whereby the gas conducts electrostatic charges 6 from the articles generated by the agitation thereor in the hopper.

HAROLD R. LONGFELLOW.

REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 933,593 Ringland et al Apr. 25, 1911 1,173,308 Rockwell Feb. 29, 1916 1,286,464 White Dec. 3, 1918 1,678,869 Morrison July 31, 1928 1,731,030 Thompson Oct. 8, 1929 2,404,782 Berggren et al July 30, 1946 

